Ivory Coast beat Gambia 3-0 in World Cup qualifying on Saturday,
while Ethiopia and Zambia gained crucial victories that put South
Africa and Ghana at risk of missing out on football's top
tournament.

Lacina Traore, Wilfried Bony and Yaya Toure scored in Gambia for
the Ivorians, keeping Africa's top-ranked team in control of Group
C and on course for a place in the decisive five final playoffs as
one of 10 qualifying group winners.

In Group A, Ethiopia's run continued with a 2-1 win in Botswana
to stay two points ahead of 2010 host South Africa and a step
closer to a first appearance at the World Cup in Brazil next year.
South Africa beat Central African Republic 3-0 in neutral Cameroon,
but has just two games left in the group stage to overhaul a
two-point deficit.

Africa's only quarterfinalist at the last World Cup, Ghana also
is in danger of missing out following Zambia's 4-0 win over Lesotho -- which kept the 2012 African Cup champion a point ahead of the
Black Stars, who won 3-1 in Sudan on Friday.

Tunisia was held 2-2 in Sierra Leone, coming back from 1-0 and
2-1 down with Fakhreddine Ben Youssef's 90th-minute equalizer in
Freetown. That still left the Tunisians with a four-point lead atop
Group B and in pole position for the all-or-nothing playoffs after
Cape Verde's 2-1 win over Equatorial Guinea.

Republic of Congo is the surprise leader of Group E, holding a
six-point advantage after drawing 0-0 in Gabon ahead of African Cup
of Nations finalist Burkina Faso's meeting with Niger on Sunday.
And Senegal heads a now-tight Group J after giving up an early lead
against Angola via striker Papiss Cisse to draw 1-1. Uganda beat
Liberia 1-0 to close within a point of the Senegalese.

Ivory Coast cruised past Gambia for a third win out of four in
its group, with midfielder Toure capping a smooth display with his
late goal. Closest challenger Tanzania is in Morocco later
Saturday.

South Africa overcame a grueling 36-hour trip to Yaounde after
travel problems to beat Central African Republic with goals by
Bernard Parker, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Katlego Mphela. But the
Ethiopians, who returned to the African Cup after a long absence
this year, maintained their push for a historic World Cup
appearance with victory in Gaborone. Ethiopia and South Africa meet
in the crucial next round.

Jacob Mulenga had a brace for Zambia, which has also never been
to the World Cup. Ghana kept up the chase with the help of a brace
from striker Asamoah Gyan in Sudan.

Tunisia's hopes were boosted with Cape Verde's victory over
Equatorial Guinea, preventing the former African Cup host from
closing the gap on the North Africans. Republic of Congo is also
closing in on the playoffs along with Senegal.

Libya drew with Congo in Tripoli in Group I on Friday, leaving
Cameroon with the opportunity to go three points clear if it beats
a struggling Togo team on Sunday.

African champion Nigeria beat Kenya on Wednesday to open a
two-point in Group F, while Egypt can stamp home its dominance in
Group G if it beats bottom-place Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday.

Algeria and Mali are level on six points at the top of Group H
ahead of their games on Sunday against Benin and Rwanda
respectively. Africa's qualifying competition will then move
straight to its penultimate round of group games next week.